Questions about the Thunderbolt

[ardchoille]

I'm currently researching switching to the Thunderbolt and have some questions.

1. How well does GPS perform? Can locks be obtain within seconds?

2. What's the battery life like?

3. Does this phone come with an app for instant messaging (yahoo, aim, etc.)?

4. Does this phone come with the Swype keyboard?

5. Can the launcher be replaced with ADW EX or LauncherPro?

6. Can apps be sideloaded?

Anything else I should know?

Thank you in advance. My choices are between the Thunderbolt, Evo 4G or the Epic 4G.

 

[ILoveMyDroid]

I'm currently researching switching to the Thunderbolt and have some questions.

1. How well does GPS perform? Can locks be obtain within seconds?

2. What's the battery life like?

3. Does this phone come with an app for instant messaging (yahoo, aim, etc.)?

4. Does this phone come with the Swype keyboard?

5. Can the launcher be replaced with ADW EX or LauncherPro?

6. Can apps be sideloaded?

Anything else I should know?

Thank you in advance. My choices are between the Thunderbolt, Evo 4G or the Epic 4G.

1. The Gps system is google maps and it runs flawlessly, no stutters or pasues. constant data.
2.Everyone has been talking bad about the battery yet i've found only a 10% decrease from full battery after making a few texts and seldom calls in one day.
3. the phone does come with an app called 'Mobile IM' in which you can access any chat service listed.
4.swype is not pre-installed but can be easily installed from the site links provided.
5.yes, alternate launchers can be used over sense.
6.3rd party apps are sideloaded on your Tbolt if you wish and are savvy with file managers and apk's

 

[ardchoille]

1. The Gps system is google maps and it runs flawlessly, no stutters or pasues. constant data.
2.Everyone has been talking bad about the battery yet i've found only a 10% decrease from full battery after making a few texts and seldom calls in one day.
3. the phone does come with an app called 'Mobile IM' in which you can access any chat service listed.
4.swype is not pre-installed but can be easily installed from the site links provided.
5.yes, alternate launchers can be used over sense.
6.3rd party apps are sideloaded on your Tbolt if you wish and are savvy with file managers and apk's

Thank you, I think I'm going to get the Thunderbolt. From what I've read this is an awesome phone.

 

[AustinTech]

It is awesome.

 

[magpullin]

^ +1

 

[ILoveMyDroid]

Congratz on your choice! hope it replaces that vibrant you've been using ^_^ Pm us for any other questions!

 

[Romikemi]

1. How well does GPS perform? Can locks be obtain within seconds?

Not always. Even in wide open outdoor areas, the sync can take over a minute. I've looked at the acquisition sluggishness using the excellent app "GPS Status" and it seems to take a long time to lock to the first sat. After that, the sky lights up and it locks within feet in no time.

I've had times that I've driven out of my neighborhood and it's still searching for satellites. I don't use GPS constantly, but I do have it turned on to provide fine location for Weatherbug tornado warnings.

At my location, I had similar problems with my D1, though.

2. What's the battery life like?

Wildly variable based on what you do. In a fringe of the 4g network, with 4g on, I can let my TB sit on my desk untouched from 8am to 2pm and it'll beep at me to charge it at 2. Using Phone Info to force it down to 3g, I can get to about 8pm with above average use. There are still some issues that need to be worked out with getting and retaining a 4g signal, and accepting a step down to 3g automatically if that is the best network available. We have to do this manually at the moment.

To be able to read the TB outdoors in the sun, you will need to use automatic brightness. That has its costs.

---

You've already got the rest of your answers, they're less subjective than your first two questions. Some people may disagree with my comments, some may even say I have a defective phone and need to take it back. The comments above are my experience and my son's, we've both had TBs since launch day and we're both very pleased with our choice. We're cautiously optimistic that good things are down the road for this network and the HTC software on these phones.

It's far from perfect, but what it does it does really well. Totally happy here.